On 24 Sep | '2014

Finished just in time to submit to the LAMQG quilt exhibit!

On 25 Aug | '2014

This weekend the generosity of this community REALLY shined through and so many people and helped out!! We finished the fundraiser last night at midnight having raised an AMAZING

$16,378!

THANK YOU to each and every one of you who showed your support by donating!! Winners of the prizes will be notified via email in the next day or so. Please know that Action Kivu is able to keep running and women are able to learn to sew and support themselves because of YOU! We make a HUGE impact with this fundraiser – thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Thank you again!

On 18 Aug | '2014

Today is the first FINAL day of the fundraiser, held here on my blog, through this week. The fundraiser will end, and the giveaways will close, on Sunday the 24th of August at 11:59 pm, Pacific time.

For those of you who are new to my blog, here’s what it all comes down to: there are lots of great giveaways involved and together we do a lot of good!

Can you all believe that we’ve been doing this for FIVE YEARS? Our amazing online sewing community is so, so generous. Let’s get that generosity focused again this year, work together and raise $15,000 for Action Kivu this year!

Action Kivu helps women and children who are victims of the conflict in Eastern Congo. The conflict in Congo has taken the lives of over 5.4 million people since 1998. Rape is used as a weapon of war, with estimates putting the number of rapes in the hundreds of thousands. These are horrible statistics but together, year after year now, we have made a real difference for specific women and children. Here are the stories of just a few. Every year there are more women entering Action Kivu’s programs and more children going to school. We are having a lasting impact on these women and children, so let’s keep helping!

One of the wonderful things that Action Kivu helps finance is a sewing workshop that teaches women to sew. When these women graduate from the workshop, they are given a sewing machine and therefore the means to support themselves and their families.

These women’s lives and families have been transformed by this workshop and it is these dollars, that we raise here, that have helped make that happen. Our online sewing community is linked to these women, and we can help more of them. Please give today!

The American staff of Action Kivu is 100% volunteer, so all of your donations, minus nominal banking fees, go directly to the work on the ground, empowering and educating the women and children of eastern Congo.

This year we’re also going to focus on spreading the word about the fundraiser via social media more!

If you follow me on Instagram, I will be posting all week there as well. Please feel free to use and repost/share any of the fundraiser images that I post there. Let’s really get the word out as much as we can and get to our goal of $15,000!

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to leave them in the comments and I will answer them there, or you are of course also more than welcome to email me. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here’s how it works:

In order to be entered to win a giveaway, all that you have to do is give the amount assigned to that prize. Can’t decide which giveaway you want to be in the running for? You can enter more than one! Just donate the dollar amount associated with a prize and you’ve got a chance to win it. However, you can only enter each giveaway once.

So let’s get to the giveaways!

$15 Donation:

Give just $15 and be entered to win the not yet released new book School of Sewing by Shea Henderson. If you win it, you’ll get this book a month before it’s out to the public! You’ll also win the latest Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio pattern! Shea was so kind to donate this prize to the fundraiser!

$20 Donation:

Give $20 and be entered to win a custom version of this pillow, made by me! You’ll tell me the colors of your choice, and I’ll make it for you and ship it straight to your home where it will look fantastic on your couch!

$22 Donation:

$25 Donation:Give $25 and be entered to win all six of these fantastic kids’ sewing books! Sew, Mama, Sew! was kind enough to give these to the fundraiser.

$30 Donation:

Sew Modern donated a fantastic prize for you fabric lovers! Give $30 and you could win this wonderful fat quarter pack of Cotton & SteelAND a $50 gift certificate to Sew Modern!

$33 Donation:

Give $33 (yes, there are so many prizes we need to use amounts like $33!) and be entered to win a colorful Aurifil thread pack! Generously donated by Aurifil.

$35 Donation:

Give $35 to win this amazing prize package donated by the wonderful Denyse Schmidt! A big ol’ scrap pack, a jelly roll of Ansonia, a charm pack of Hadley, four patterns, and a stationary set. This is one fantastic addition to your Denyse Schmidt stash! C’mon… I know you have one!

$55 Donation:

TEN YARDS of Liberty of London fabric!! This prize would retail for over $300 and you can win it if you give just $55!! What a steal AND you’re giving to a great cause! This prize was kindly donated by Massdrop.

$60 Donation:Give $60 and you’ll be entered to win a pair of custom pillows that I will make for you! You’ll let me know what colors would look the best in your lovely living room, (you can see a bunch I’ve made here) I’ll sew them up and then send them your way!

$75 Donation:

For the second year in a row, Janome has been so generous and has donated a sewing machine to the fundraiser! Give $75 and it could be yours! Been thinking that you need a sewing machine in your life? I agree, you definitely DO and this could be the machine! (Or maybe you need another machine??) Give just $75 and you will be in the running to win this fantastic Janome MyStyle 100 machine! And all for a great cause!

$100 Donation: The wonderful Jacquie Gering of Tallgrass Prairie Studio has donated this beautiful quilt, called Radiate, to the fundraiser! If you give $100 or more, you’ll be entered to win this gorgeous 55″ x 55″ lap quilt.

Once again, any questions at all, just comment and I’ll reply there or you are always welcome to email me. Thank you so much for giving to the Action Kivu fundraiser!!

On 11 Aug | '2014

Maybe you noticed that I’ve changed things up a little bit around here? A new domain, a new look – it was time for an update. So take a peek around and let me know if you run into any problems!

Meanwhile, since I never like to post without photos, here are a few Instagram photos (are you following me yet? I’m there so much more than here!) of some works in progress I’ve got going on. Not a ton these days as I’ve been very busy with so many other things… But I have some good starts!

First up? A couple of experiments that will turn into some pillow sleeves!

And a quilt top that uses up a bunch of my 1″ gray scraps. (I have so many around after making this quilt!)

And the latest thing on my design wall – one big quick improv block to make a baby girl quilt. I love working this way… just snatching up what I have around to create something on the fly.

Now to find the time to get some of these things finished up!

Also, a quick heads up that a week from today, on August 18th, the Action Kivu Fundraiser will be launching again. One week of prizes and fundraising all for a fantastic cause! Can’t wait to see you back here then!

On 24 Jun | '2014

What a great book this is. I was thrilled to be a part of it. It’s made up of 10 different chapters that each take you through a building block of modern quilting. The book covers everything from color to quilting. My sister (who doesn’t quilt at all) was flipping through it and said “wow – this is the book to get someone who’s interested in modern quilting…There so much information in here.” She’s so right – the book is packed with info and tips from all of your favorite modern quilters.

Each chapter focuses in on teaching a specific topic and includes a quilt pattern that highlights that discussed topic.

I wrote the chapter on working with solids…

…and this is the quilt that is a pattern for my chapter.

I love this quilt. Right in my comfort zone of lots of neutrals (grays and navy and the linen here) with a pop of orange.

And lots and lots of straight line quilting of course! There’s a page of tips on that topic in my chapter of the book as well.